Retail News: ECI Group; Ahold's new stores; Apsys zl. 400 million investment

The ECI GROUP, which manages the retail part of the Eastbridge holding (including the EMPiK and Galeria Centrum chains) ended 2002 with sales revenues of zl. 1.45 billion. In 2003 the company is forecasting 15% growth in revenues. The group's EBITDA rose from zl. 48 million in 2001 to around zl. 90 million in 2002. ... The Dutch retail giant AHOLD hopes to open around ten new Hypernova hypermarkets and 20-25 Albert supermarkets this year. In early February the company's existing stores (184 in all) received their first deliveries of goods from Ahold's new warehouses in Bedzin and Piotrkow Trybunalski. ... French developer APSYS hopes to build a comm ercial, services and residential complex on a 17-hectare plot in the Poznan district of Rataje. The value of the project is estimated at zl. 400 m illion. The construction process should take around two years, and Apsys is at present waiting for approval from Poznan municipal offices. (Retail News is C/O PMR Ltd, Retail Update No. 9, www.polishmarket.com)